The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said Nigeria has only one active case of the infectious Ebola virus. Giving an update on government’s effort to contain the disease yesterday during a press-conference in Abuja, Chukwu said: “Today is the 37th day since the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was imported into Nigeria by a Liberian-American. As of today (yesterday), Nigeria has had 13 cases of EVD, including the index case.

“However, seven of the infected persons were successfully managed at the isolation ward in Lagos and have been discharged. “Two of the treated patients, a male doctor and a female nurse, were discharged yesterday (Monday) evening, having satisfied the criteria for discharge. “As I speak with you, Nigeria has only one confirmed case of EVD, a secondary contact of Mr Patrick Sawyer’s and spouse of one of the physicians who participated in the management of the index case. She is stable but still undergoing treatment at the isolation ward in Lagos.”

He explained that so far, all the reported cases of Ebola in Nigeria had their roots in the index case, the late Sawyer, adding: “This is an indication that thus far, Nigeria has contained the disease outbreak.” The minister, however, refused to be drawn into a hasty conclusion that the virus had been completely eradicated in Nigeria, maintaining that it had been contained but not yet eradicated.